Inclusive Leadership Amid Civic Unrest Exploring Solutions to Police Brutality and Inequity

During the fall 2020 academic year, students in a graduate research course had just experienced a volatile summer with racial unrest, civic discord in the midst of a global health pandemic, which required a transition to online learning. As part of the course, and given the ongoing number of killings of unarmed Black men and women by police, the course would take a heightened approach to discussing the events of the summer of 2020, and to working towards a solution of societal ills such as police brutality, inequity and low levels of civic engagement among young people. This work, a qualitative case study using theoretical lens of inclusive leadership (Fournier, 2020) sought ways to empower scholars in a graduate research course at a Mid-Atlantic HBCU by exploring the themes of community-oriented policing, qualified immunity, civic engagement, and equity. The study found that ideas such as the use of social media, holding online forums to meet with police and starting civic groups in one’s own neighborhood can serve as a starting point.